a review from the author of DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF: A PERSONAL APPROACH TO DREAM INTERPRETATION; and DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DREAMS, DAYDREAMS, AND FANTASIES.

RITUALS FOR OUR TIMES is a well-written and lucid description of the importance of rituals in our lives, regardless of one's spiritual beliefs. In modern, Western, secular culture, many of us have forgotten the value of marking life passages in ways that speak to our individual needs. Well-organized and well-written, with helpful questions to guide us through planning a ritual and whom to include, RITUALS FOR OUR TIMES brings us back to the power and pleasure of even everyday rituals. Through their suggestions, we learn how we can plan rituals with forethought and conscious choice and without rigidity to old ways that no longer work. With touching stories, authors Imber-Black and Roberts demonstrate the potency of ritual to facilitate growth and resolve conflicts--old and new.

If you are an Engineer looking to understand the history, technical aspects, implementation, standards and details of RFID systems, this book provides an excellent introduction for you.

The chapters are well laid out and paced. The author explains the most common devices and systems available in the market, their technology and concepts quite well. Most of the RFID related standards have been covered along with relevant examples. The author covers such things as the hardware design specifications for devices, software requirements, and some basic RF concepts that are required to understand Transponder and Receiver designs.

If you need specifics about recent products however, you might want to research for other sources of information because this book does not cover vendors and products in detail. For readers without technical background, the book introduces the concepts well; but some content might not be relevant because of the [technical] nature.

This book is a basic introduction to the theory of astrological cycles. It is a basic reader for anyone who is interested in the new astrology called 'Humanistic Astrology'. The author's contributions to the theory and practice of astrology have resulted in astrology being updated to modern times by incorporating new concepts from analytical, depth and transpersonal psychology. The ancient concepts of 'square' and 'opposition' have been redefined as events that occur in every cycle--whose purpose is to build structures (relationships) from the new moon beginning to the full moon culmination and back again to the next new moon. By identifying the personality type that we are most readily understand emotionally, The Lunation Cycle provides guidance for the reader to reassess their horoscope in the light of concepts that empower one to validate their own individual, emotional perspective on life. It goes further to redefine the Part of Fortune and discusses the progressed lunation cycle.

I don't know if lunation technique is popular in modern astrologers or not since I am just enjoying astrology for myself. But this technique Rudhyar reveals in this difinite work really works. Along with his another difinite work, "Astrological Mandala", this book will be a very good spiritual navigator for your life, I believe.

"Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures."

"Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray.

Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction.

Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo.

The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

This is the perfect follow up to Klinger's annotated "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." It is exhaustively researched, beautifully printed, and tastefully illustrated. The scope of the annotations are awesome, and truly enhance the appreciation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Both die-hard fans and casual readers will absolutely love this book!

What a wonderful surprise it was to come across Leslie Klinger's outstanding annotated versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories on Amazon! Klinger's notes are extremely helpful and informative (not to mention entertaining), and the copious illustrations by Paget are a great addition as well. This (and the other volumes, of which Adventures, Hound of the Baskervilles, and Study in Scarlet have been published to date) are a worthy successor to William Baring-Gould's justly acclaimed annotated Holmes from years back, and are, in opinion, a better value and more enjoyable read than the rather dry Oxford editions.

If you are new to Sherlock Holmes, this may not be the most economical way to pick up all of Conan Doyle's work. But if you are a long-time Holmes fan, or just want to experience the Holmes stories in a deeper and more informed way, I can think of no better purchase than this. Very highly recommended!!!